- Fix leaky faucets, pipes and irrigation systems to eliminate the water they need to survive.

- Watch for golden-brown ants running erratically on the ground, plants or structures. They do not build mounds.

- Anything you can do to make the lawn drier can help.

SOURCE: Dawn Calibeo, the University of Florida.

The ants have invaded 20 Florida counties and University of Florida scientists think they're headed to Volusia and Flagler counties – if they haven't arrived already.

When they arrive, they will be hard to miss, said Dawn Calibeo, an entomology doctoral candidate with the school's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. While the typical ant hill may contain thousands of ants, this species of crazy ants numbers "in the billions," Calibeo said. "You literally have so many ants the ground is black with them and it looks like the ground is moving.

"This is not like where you will have four or five ant hills in your yard," she added. "It just occurs in tremendous numbers. You can't enjoy the backyard and you can't let your pet out. It's like a scene from a B horror movie."

The ants belong to a group of species known as crazy ants because they move "quickly and erratically." They do not have a painful bite or sting, but scientists are concerned about the pests' impact on Florida's agriculture industry.

So far, efforts to control them have fallen short. But, a research team that Calibeo is working with at the university says it is closer to a solution. The team is developing an integrated system of measures designed to curb the ants.

At this point, Calibeo said, eradication is unlikely.

"We'd like to take them down from the billions to perhaps a few hundred thousand, so people can enjoy their backyards again," she said.

Tim Cole, supervisor of pest control for DeLand-based Aaron Pest Control, said the company may have seen "a couple of instances" of crazy ants along either coastal Volusia or Flagler. "Their trails will be everywhere," he said. "They make little pathways where they can run."

They're coming, Cole said.

The ants are easily moved from one location to another, in a potted plant for example.

Even a single acorn might contain enough ants – queen, workers, larvae and pupae – to start a new population, Calibeo said.

Entomologists at the university were puzzled when they first started getting reports of the ants taking over yards and properties "in huge numbers."

The ants looked just like a Caribbean crazy ant that has been in Florida for 50 years, Cailbeo said. But the new ants didn't act like the old ants.

They're "very closely related and the workers look exactly alike," she said. "The only way to tell them apart is to find a male ant, which is very rare."

When they were able to get a male ant under a microscope in the lab, Calibeo said they realized they were dealing with a separate species, which explains why they "exploded everywhere."

The researchers said it's likely that some, if not all, of the new infestations are a South American ant.

Scientists studying the ants have proposed that the Entomological Society of America name the ants tawny crazy ants.

Sarasota County has been hit hardest, researchers said. The ants, which also are in Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana, probably arrived in the United States one to two decades ago via plant soil or plant material used in shipping.

Funding for the research was provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Bayer, which manufactures some of the products tested in the study.

The team studied 15 baits to determine which were more effective. Many of the conventional baits are designed for fire ants, she said. Those baits contain oils because fire ants feed on fats, but crazy ants don't.

Typical ant pesticide baits are formulated to deal with 100,000 to 500,00 ants, Calibeo said. "There's no directions on labels for billions of ants."

It's crucial to attack crazy ants in late winter, before the ants begin breeding, Calibeo said. When the ants first come out to forage, she said the chances of controlling the population are greater.

She advised homeowners to bring in professionals for the job.

"We haven't seen anyone who successfully dealt with it on their own," she said.

Successful treatment depends on getting the ants to take bait and carry it back to the colony, Cole said. That's one reason why controlling crazy ants is so difficult. There are so many and they have multiple nesting sites, he said. "You could just be dealing with millions of ants."

Calibeo, who is completing her doctorate degree, said it has been exciting to study the new ant.

"We're finding out things that nobody has ever discovered about this ant, on a daily basis," she said.

The team's final recommendations won't be released for several months, but the researchers released a set of interim findings earlier in November, a list of tips that may help pest control operators and property owners trying to combat the pests.

<p>A species of "crazy ant" marching across Florida moves in by the millions, blanketing lawns and shorting out electrical circuits, much like a scene from a sci-fi movie.</p><p>The ants have invaded 20 Florida counties and University of Florida scientists think they're headed to Volusia and Flagler counties – if they haven't arrived already. </p><p>When they arrive, they will be hard to miss, said Dawn Calibeo, an entomology doctoral candidate with the school's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. While the typical ant hill may contain thousands of ants, this species of crazy ants numbers "in the billions," Calibeo said. "You literally have so many ants the ground is black with them and it looks like the ground is moving. </p><p>"This is not like where you will have four or five ant hills in your yard," she added. "It just occurs in tremendous numbers. You can't enjoy the backyard and you can't let your pet out. It's like a scene from a B horror movie." </p><p>The ants belong to a group of species known as crazy ants because they move "quickly and erratically." They do not have a painful bite or sting, but scientists are concerned about the pests' impact on Florida's agriculture industry. </p><p>So far, efforts to control them have fallen short. But, a research team that Calibeo is working with at the university says it is closer to a solution. The team is developing an integrated system of measures designed to curb the ants. </p><p>At this point, Calibeo said, eradication is unlikely. </p><p>"We'd like to take them down from the billions to perhaps a few hundred thousand, so people can enjoy their backyards again," she said. </p><p>Tim Cole, supervisor of pest control for DeLand-based Aaron Pest Control, said the company may have seen "a couple of instances" of crazy ants along either coastal Volusia or Flagler. "Their trails will be everywhere," he said. "They make little pathways where they can run." </p><p>They're coming, Cole said. </p><p>The ants are easily moved from one location to another, in a potted plant for example. </p><p>Even a single acorn might contain enough ants – queen, workers, larvae and pupae – to start a new population, Calibeo said. </p><p>Entomologists at the university were puzzled when they first started getting reports of the ants taking over yards and properties "in huge numbers." </p><p>The ants looked just like a Caribbean crazy ant that has been in Florida for 50 years, Cailbeo said. But the new ants didn't act like the old ants. </p><p>They're "very closely related and the workers look exactly alike," she said. "The only way to tell them apart is to find a male ant, which is very rare." </p><p>When they were able to get a male ant under a microscope in the lab, Calibeo said they realized they were dealing with a separate species, which explains why they "exploded everywhere." </p><p>The researchers said it's likely that some, if not all, of the new infestations are a South American ant. </p><p>Scientists studying the ants have proposed that the Entomological Society of America name the ants tawny crazy ants. </p><p>Sarasota County has been hit hardest, researchers said. The ants, which also are in Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana, probably arrived in the United States one to two decades ago via plant soil or plant material used in shipping. </p><p>Funding for the research was provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Bayer, which manufactures some of the products tested in the study. </p><p>The team studied 15 baits to determine which were more effective. Many of the conventional baits are designed for fire ants, she said. Those baits contain oils because fire ants feed on fats, but crazy ants don't. </p><p>Typical ant pesticide baits are formulated to deal with 100,000 to 500,00 ants, Calibeo said. "There's no directions on labels for billions of ants." </p><p>It's crucial to attack crazy ants in late winter, before the ants begin breeding, Calibeo said. When the ants first come out to forage, she said the chances of controlling the population are greater. </p><p>She advised homeowners to bring in professionals for the job. </p><p>"We haven't seen anyone who successfully dealt with it on their own," she said. </p><p>Successful treatment depends on getting the ants to take bait and carry it back to the colony, Cole said. That's one reason why controlling crazy ants is so difficult. There are so many and they have multiple nesting sites, he said. "You could just be dealing with millions of ants." </p><p>Calibeo, who is completing her doctorate degree, said it has been exciting to study the new ant. </p><p>"We're finding out things that nobody has ever discovered about this ant, on a daily basis," she said. </p><p>The team's final recommendations won't be released for several months, but the researchers released a set of interim findings earlier in November, a list of tips that may help pest control operators and property owners trying to combat the pests.</p>